Shadows of Power
by The Phantom Dragon
Summary: Alex is captured by Scorpia along with K Unit and two others. Their survival doesn't look promising, but what Alex and K Unit don't know is that there is more to these two then meets the eye. Lots of angst.
1. Chapter I: Capture

**Chapter 1:Capture**

Alex was bored out of his mind. He had finally managed to catch up on his school and had the rest of the summer off. A whole month free was certainly an amusingly debatable idea. MI6 had not called on him for the last several months and so far no one had tried take a poke at him.

Yet!

After his last little romp with Scorpia and Snakehead he was vaguely surprised that they hadn't tried anything; not even so much as a threat had been delivered. With their major leaders getting a thorough education in the art of worm chow evolution, activity from these two factions, Alan Blunt informed him, had been cut back drastically.

He should be proud of his success but he wasn't. His whole world was upside-down. He had thought finding out the truth about his parents would help ease some of the weight that had been sitting on his mind since discovering his family's connections with MI6, especially after being misinformed that his dad worked for Scorpia; instead he felt even worse. On the one hand he was glad to know that his father had never truly belonged to Scorpia, on the other a part of him was disgusted with what MI6 had turned Ash into.

He couldn't believe that anyone could have actually told one of his own operatives to their face, after they risking their life for their country and working their butt off in an attempt to please him, that they were second rate and then dump them. But then there were a lot of things he could believe Alan Blunt capable of and it never failed to leave a bitter taste in his mouth.

Thankfully MI6, it seemed, had decided to let him have some time to himself, he wasn't sure how he would have reacted to being sent on another mission so soon after what happened in Australia.

So now he was sitting in his living room flicking channels in hope of finding some way to wile away his time.

Unbelievable as it sounded, especially to himself, he was actually wishing that MI6 would call, just something to break the monotony of his current situation. And although he would never admit to it, getting chased by bad guys didn't sound like such a bad idea at this point.

Finally exhausting the choice of channels he turned the machine off and looked at the clock.

_12:17._

"Jack." he called into the kitchen where she was doing god-knew-what with some fish, probably lunch. "I'm going out for a walk."

"OK," she stuck her head into the hall as he was pulling on his trainers. "Try not to get into any trouble."

Alex smirked, oh yeah like that was gonna happen.

Outside he had no idea where to go so just went where his feet took him. Soon he was in the park a few blocks from his house.

It was quiet for a Sunday afternoon, the only people he could see were a pair of old men playing chess and a couple throwing sticks for their dog to chase, even the playground was strangely empty of children. Alex mentally kicked himself for being paranoid, he had survived so many attempts on his life he was jumping at anything he thought odd even when there was a perfectly rational explanation. It was barely past midday which meant most people were probably still taking advantage of the relief their air cons provided from the heat.

Berating himself for forgetting MI6's threat to Scorpia of what would happen if they tried anything; he headed for a cluster of trees that provided a relative amount of shade where he hoped he could practice his karate uninterrupted.

Standing in the center of the small clearing, he slowly began working his way through the first moves of the routine when he was interrupted by a shout.

Immediately recoiling into a defensive stance, but seeing no one near him or the clearing, he quickly looked around for the source of the noise.

At the table where the men had been playing chess one of the men was hunched up over the table while the second leaned over him yelling for help. Breaking into a run he reached the men at the same time as the couple with the dog did.

"What's wrong?" The woman asked the now frantic man.

"I think he's having a heart attack!" the man was starting to panic as his friend continued wheezing and grasping at his chest.

The younger man pulled out his phone to call for an ambulance while Alex carefully approached the man whose gasps were coming more frequently, he had had some medical training and wanted to see if there was anything he could to do help keep the man calm so as not to aggravate his condition any further.

"It's alright sir," he said in what he hoped was a soothing voice. "Help is coming; you're going to be alright."

Alex instinctively jumped back in surprise when the man jerked around to face him; unfortunately he just wasn't fast enough to avoid the stun gun that was now held in the hand that the man had so recently been clutching at his chest with.

Alex didn't even have time to scream as a hundred volts of electricity slammed through his lithe frame. He gave a single involuntary shudder as darkness claimed his senses. Unconsciousness already had a firm grip on him before he hit the sidewalk.

well whada ya think; comment pls


	2. Chapter II: Class Reunion

_Thanks for the revs. Sorry it took so long to update. My dad went gaga over our new chemistry lecture CDs and now I have to devote my writing time to getting my ears chewed. Ok enough talk, hope you enjoy this chap._

**Chapter II: Class Reunion**

Something cold and smooth rubbing against his cheek was the first thing Alex became aware of as the darkness receded to the more distant corners of his mind. The next thing he noticed was the roar of an engine somewhere under him. He didn't need to be told that the tightness in his arms and shoulders was because his hands were tied behind his back, a problem he was becoming uncomfortably familiar with.

Carefully opening his eyes to slits he had enough time to note how dark it was before a sudden jolt threw him a few inches into the air only to land with a very hard thud; the pain this added to his already aching side banished the few remaining traces of fog from his brain. He sat up abruptly only to fall back with a groan, it was then he remembered what had happened and he swore.

"Shit!"

"Well looky here, the whelp remains in the land of the living. How ya doin down there Cub."

Alex jerked in surprise and looked around, it was still dark but there was just enough light for him to make out the figure in combat uniform.

"Fox?" he asked, puzzled, as the familiar face came into focus.

"How's it going squirt." Another voice commented somewhere beyond his line of vision.

Being careful not to use his stomach muscles, Alex slowly pushed himself up-a difficult task given his predicament with his arms-to lean on the wall so he could look around without having to continuously twist into different positions.

"Eagle!" he exclaimed upon seeing the man sitting next to Fox. "Snake! Wolf? What are you guys doing here?" Alex asked, puzzled, upon seeing the other members of K Unit.

"Hey he even remembers us." Snake said cheerfully.

"How touching, why don't you go hug him. I'm sure you two have a lot of catching up to do." Wolf grouched, shifting himself so he could glower at the man who was sitting next to him.

Snake grinned and did a mock bow as best he could, given that his hands, like everyone else, Alex noticed, were tied behind his back. "After you, oh great merciful one."

The others snickered and Wolf growled at his antagonist who was grinning like an ape.

"Oh, why don't you…" Eagle's sentence was never finished as the vehicle lurched to the side, sending him and Fox sprawling across the floor. With a few muttered curses, the two men picked themselves up and returned to there former positions along the opposite wall.

The atmosphere sobered after that, as they all settled into a tense silence, each wondering the same thing, what were they doing here and why.

Shifting himself higher, Alex took in their surroundings. As far as he could tell they were in the back of a truck with no form of lighting beyond the few beams that had managed to make their way through cracks around the edges of the canvas covering, the back of the truck was a wall of steel matched by the backside of the cab that had a covered window near the top.

His observations quickly led him to a slightly unsettling discovery, he and K Unit were not alone; hunched into the corner farthest from him was another figure he didn't know.

Daring to nudge Wolf on the arm, he jerked his head in the direction of the person and whispered, "Who is that?"

"No idea." Wolf muttered out the corner of his mouth. "Was here when we woke up." At least Wolf hadn't ignored or threatened him.

Alex settled back against the wall and decided to test his bonds, something he had been too occupied up till now to do. Tugging his arms experimentally, he felt cold metal biting into his wrists; handcuffs, there was no way he would be able to break out. Sighing in defeat, Alex resigned himself to waiting to find out what their fate was to be.

The suspense didn't last for long; after maybe ten more minutes the floor tilted and the few dim slivers of light disappeared. Less than a minute later their ride came to a halt.

Alex could hear voices shouting beyond the canvas walls as instructions were given and answered, he glanced around at the others to see what they were thinking; all of them wore the same impassive mask that he had gotten used to while they were in training.

They didn't have long to wait as the backdoor was swung open and light poured in. "Out of the truck." A gruff voice commanded. Alex and Eagle, who were the nearest to the doors, climbed out and were followed by the rest of their companions.

Someone grabbed Alex by the arm and dragged him forward. After being in the darkness for so long Alex was partially blinded by the harsh fluorescent lights and stumbled. Whoever his guard was did not seem to give a damn and simply hauled Alex up again to shove him into place before moving off for whoever had gotten out of the truck behind him.

When Alex could see clearly again after blinking for a bit, he looked around to see what was happening.

They were in a large, underground parking lot filled with several military jeeps and covered trucks along with maybe twenty-or-so guards in combat outfit. He and the members of K Unit were lined up behind the truck they had just climbed out of.

Poking his head out from where he was positioned between Wolf and Snake, he glanced over to see how the others were doing, and did a double take when he saw their unknown companion who had been stationed at the end of the line.

The face was a bit thinner and the skin paler, but there was no mistaking the cool, aloof features of Yassen Gregorovich.

Alex was sure he was dreaming, but the harsh reality of their situation reassured him he wasn't.

But this was impossible; Alex had been there when Yassen was shot in the chest by Damian Cray, he had watched the man die. So what the bloody hell was he doing here, looking as peachy as when he had shot Herod Sayle.

Alex had been so busy with his discovery and trying to crane his neck around Snake to get a better look that he almost jumped a mile when someone nudged him hard in the ribs in an effort to push him back inline. Glancing up, Alex saw that it was Snake, who had poked him with his elbow; the man responded to Alex's questioning look by giving a quick glance and tilt of his head in the opposite direction.

Taking the hint, Alex looked the other way; marching brusquely toward them was the man who seemed to be the overseer of this operation. Seeing this, Alex shrank back a bit further in an effort to be less conspicuous, a rather pointless attempt seeing that he was the only child in the room.

Coming to the line of captives, the man walked past Wolf and continued down to the end where Yassen was stationed, briefly inspecting each one as he went; pausing before the assassin, the man looked him over for a few seconds longer than the others before turning around and heading back up the line.

Alex felt himself instinctively tense as the man came to a stop in front of him. The man glowered at him for a bit before speaking. "So you're the brat that killed Yu."

Alex would have like to point out at this moment that General Yu had been killed in the aftershock caused by Royal Blue detonating ahead of schedule, but he doubted it would matter to this guy.

The man glowered at Alex for a bit longer before unexpectedly lashing out with a fist that connected perfectly with the spot where the electrodes of the stun gun had zapped him. Alex's abdomen muscles had still been quite sore from the electricity and the added abuse was sheer agony; Alex doubled over and fell to his knees, gasping in pain.

All the members of K Unit were too shocked to even move; except for Wolf, who launched himself at the man with a snarl.

Unfortunately Wolf forgot about the handcuffs and guards, all he managed was one good headbutt before his feet were kicked out from under him and a gun was pressed to his head.

The officer calmly climbed to his feet and wiped a bit of blood from his lip where it had split. Motioning for his men to release Wolf, he waited while Wolf stood up awkwardly before slamming his fist into Wolf's jaw. Wolf reeled a step or two before getting his balance back enough to return the man's glare.

The man didn't bother to continue the fight, but instead moved to stand before Yassen. "The best assassin Scorpia ever bred," he sneered, "now look at you. What do the Fates say, eh?" The man scowled when Yassen continued to stare at him with the same impassive expression.

"Take them away." He yelled at his soldiers before stalking off.

Alex was pulled roughly to his feet and a blindfold was placed over his eyes. "Move it." Another voice commanded. Alex's momentary quandary of how he was to find his way was answered when a set of hands roughly grabbed his arm and steered him forward.

Not having any idea of how to escape his current predicament, Alex did what he knew would be the smartest thing at the moment and did not resist. Instead he walked along in the direction he was being shoved and prayed that this nightmare would be brought to a swift end.

Well, ya like it, hate it. Comment pls. By the way BooBoo33, sorry to disappoint you but I got a bigger imagination than the damn plot bunny, heh heh.


	3. Chapter III:Missing

**It would seem that the plot bunny decided to behave for once and let me finish a new chapter in record time.**

**Thank you all for the reviews. As for all you copycat grousers, NO I DID NOT copy Scorpia710's Faint Hearted, I abhor the thought of using someone else's ideas(trust me I know what that feels like). I came up with this over two years ago for my equally evil sister, but forgot about it thanks to my brother's short term memory where returning my books is concerned, and remembered it when I came across Snakehead in the library last month. Aside from the few tweaks to take the upgrade of information into consideration, I have changed nothing, SO THERE! I actually have more going then just random mindless torture for this story.**

**Chapter III: Missing**

Alan Blunt turned to fix his gaze on the young woman seated on the opposite side of his desk. "As you can see Miss Starbright, we are fully aware of the situation at hand."

Jack said nothing but continued to stare at the flatscreen that was mounted on the wall of Blunt's office. They had just finished viewing footage of Alex's capture.

Security cameras in the park showed a team of 'paramedics' rushing to the seen as Alex collapsed on the ground after somehow being rendered unconscious; the footage had then cut to traffic cameras where they watched as Alex was loaded into an ambulance that proceeded to take a spin through a series of back allies, presumably in an effort to shake off any tails. Eventually the ambulance stopped in a deserted lane where Alex and his captors exchanged their rather observable transportation for a plain white sedan that was soon lost in traffic.

"We have managed to identify the 'couple'," Blunt stated blandly. "The woman is a professional theft by the name of Linda Baltra; she is a known Scorpia operative. The man, Keith Henries, is an ex-spy for the same faction and has been seen working with Miss Baltra on several occasions. As of yet, we have been unable to identify the other two due to their obvious disguises."

"Unfortunately they managed to give us the slip." Mrs. Jones put in, for once forgetting about her minty distractions. Ever since Jack had called the Royal and General that morning in hopes of receiving an explanation for Alex's disappearance she had been in a state of nervous anxiety as to the fate of their youngest operative.

"Local authorities picked up the car a few hours ago outside of the city, other than that we have no clues as to where they may have gone." Blunt said, all business as usual, to him it was just another mission that need solving before it produced dire consequences.

"What happens now?" Jack asked, her voice almost a whisper from the horror of seeing her worst nightmare being played out before her eyes.

"We already have people on this and are hoping to hear something soon enough." Blunt stated in mono-syllables.

"In the meantime," Mrs. Jones took over, "you will be staying in one of our safe houses as a precaution in case of the event that they should try to go after you."

"Me!" For the first time that evening Jacks face showed some sign of emotion other than the pale dazed look that she had worn since hearing of Alex's capture.

"It is unlikely but still a possibility that they may decide to capture you as well-to use as a bargaining tool." Blunt explained.

"But why, they already have Alex, why would they want me?"

Blunt cast what he believed qualified as a 'sympathetic' look at the young woman, it was clear the shock of what had happened was inhibiting her normally clear thinking. "As I'm sure you are aware, Alex has some very powerful enemies and I would be most astounded if they were willing to let him go for any price; but you they may have classified as a possible bargaining hostage, a risk we cannot take at this point."

Jack nodded silently but continued to stare at the screen that showed the last seconds of the fate of the boy she had come to think of as a brother. God, she would never forgive herself if he never came back.

"You will be informed should any new developments come to light." Mrs. Jones offered in hopes of easing some of the younger woman's anxiety. All Jack could manage was a small nod.

Mrs. Jones sighed and stood, "If you will come this way, we have people waiting to escort you to your new quarters." Silently, she led Jack out to the hallway before shutting the door and coming to stand before Blunt's desk.

"You didn't tell her about the others," she stated matter-of-factly.

"I saw no reason to burden her further with unnecessary information that does not concern her." Blunt did not bother to look up from the files he was sorting through on his desk. Unless Alex had given her the details of his SAS training, it was unlikely that Jack Starbright even knew of K Unit's existence; and he was willing to bet that if it had been Scorpia, and he was most certain it was, who had taken Yassen Gregorovich, it had not been to send him after Jack.

"Do you intend to carry out our threat to Scorpia and publish information of Alex's involvement in their destruction?" Mrs. Jones asked, wanting to know Alan's take on the situation.

Blunt frowned at her over his glasses. "Of course not! As long as there is still a possibility for their rescue I have no intention of aggravating the situation unnecessarily."

Mrs. Jones continued to watch her colleague for a few more seconds before showing herself out.

Blunt waited until she had left before pulling out a file from the bottom of the stack. Flipping through its meager information only served to deepen his frown.

K Unit and Alex's lack of ability to avoid capture was understandable; as for Yassen, well, even the best failed sometimes.

But NOT this one.

The idea of Scorpia, or anyone for that matter, being able to get their claws on an individual of this particular brand was unthinkable.

_If Scorpia has truly succeeded here, then God help us all. _For the first time that he could remember, Alan Blunt cringed as he gazed at the photo attached to the front page of the folder.

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	4. Chapter IV:?

_**Sorry it took so long. I was exiled to the academic Siberia for nonconformists commonly known as summer school, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. **_

_**A lot of people seem to be keen on a resurrected Ian and Yassen. I have a few ideas, if you wanna hear them give me a yell so I can know if I should get to work.**_

_**Hope you enjoy and don't forget to comment.**_

**Chapter IV: ?**

Alex swore mentally for the umpteenth time as he stumbled in the darkness. As far as he could tell from the footsteps in front and behind him, he and the others had not been separated, at least not yet. He had no idea how long they had been walking, well more like tripping along for him. His escort seemed to have developed an annoying rhythm of poking him between his shoulder blades every dozen-or-so steps, the pokes were more like shoves and he was incessantly stumbling over his feet.

Finally they came to a stop and his antagonist gave him one final poke that sent him flying forward to crash into someone in front of him. The unsuspecting individual wobbled for a bit before lashing out backwards.

"Weirdoes." The person snarked.

_Of all the people in here it __just had__ to be Wolf. _Alex thought as he picked himself off the floor where Wolf's outburst had landed him. As he stood up his blindfold was roughly pulled off. Alex winced when whoever was doing it yanked on his hair right over the spot where his head had become acquainted with the sidewalk he still had no idea how long ago.

Blinking rapidly to adjust to the increase of light, his hopes of an escape surfaced as his handcuffs were unlocked. Maybe there was a chance that if he acted fast enough he would be able to buy them time to escape.

As soon as the person released his hands from their confines, he lashed out. Using the move he had learned in training, he jammed his elbow into the stomach of the man behind him; he heard a startled gasp that was cut short as Alex wheeled around to deliver a follow-up punch to the jaw while simultaneously kicking at another guard infront of him when he spun.

Unfortunately there were just too many guards and the rest of the guys were still trussed up like turkeys to be of much help and Alex quickly found himself on the floor with his arms pinned behind his back.

"Yeah, Zannders told us all 'bout you kid, so don't get any funny ideas cause it just means we get to have more fun." The guard who was holding him sneered, "So why don't you be a good little brat then we won't have to hurt you so much."

"Go to hell," was Alex's reply as he was again dragged to his feet before being tossed into the cell. And of course as luck would have it his landing spot was once again K unit's leader, sending both of them back to the floor in a tangle of limbs.

Wolf kept up a continuous stream of swearing as he disengaged himself from Alex. The problem is, every time they managed to start getting up, the K Unit member whom the guards had finished releasing was dumped on top of them until the entire K Unit and Alex were nothing but a shoving, swearing pile on the floor. The last one to be released was Yassen, the ex-assassin barely moved when the guard tried shoving him; instead he calmly sidestepped the SAS soldiers and teenager who were acting like a litter of pups fighting over a chew-toy.

"We hope you have pleasant stay at La Dungeon, and if there is anything you require please do not hesitate to scream." The apparent head-guard taunted. Wolf managed to untangle himself in time to glare at the men as they left.

The echo of the door slamming caused the rest to sit up even though they still hadn't managed to unsort themselves. Turning to his errant unit members, Wolf wanted to snarl at the site they presented. "K Unit at attention." A rather pointless exercise given their situation but the other men did not question him as they jumped to their feet and stood at attention.

Alex stood and dusted himself off while rolling his eyes. "Kinda pointless in here isn't it Wolfy?"

Eagle couldn't restrain the prankster side that demanded release and snickered at Ale's taunt. Wolf of course found nothing amusing about it and growled at the boy. "The-fact-that-there-is-no-commanding-officer-here-is-seriously-starting-to-cause-the-idea-of-strangling-you-to-be-very-appealing-Cub!"

Alex shrugged and gave Wolf a half grin. "And the fact that there is no commanding officer here means you have nothing to fear if I tell the others that the reason you passed you parachute training is because I had to boot _your_ arse out the plane."

The three heads could have all been attached to the same string as they swung from Wolf to Alex and back again. Snake and Fox looked too surprised for words following this statement; Eagle simply looked thrown off balance for approximately three seconds before he cracked up. "YOU DID WHAT?" However he was laughing now and his 'what' came out more like whaaaahahahahahahahaahat.

Wolf glared bloody-murder at Alex who looked at him innocently as if he hadn't just revealed the leader of K Unit's most embarrassing secret.

"Why you little…."

"So this is the 'fearless' K Unit I've been hearing about."

Everyone turned around to face Yassen. The assassin had said nothing until now; instead he had stood in the corner and watched the exchange between the SAS soldiers and Alex.

"And what would a Scorpia assassin know about fearless." Wolf sneered. "All you people do is hide in the shadows and kill people."

Alex would have liked to point out that annoying the Russian was not only a bad but also possibly dangerous idea; however it seemed Wolf was to angry to care so he wisely refrained from saying so.

Fortunately Yassen did not appear to take offense at the man's temper and continued staring at Wolf unfazed while leaning against the wall as if it was an everyday occurrence to be kidnapped and thrown in a cell with an increasingly ticked off SAS soldier.

"Plenty, thank you very much." Was his perfectly calm reply.

Thankfully Wolf decided against continuing to taunt the man and settled for silently fuming.

Alex shook his head and looked around at the room they had been thrown in.

The cell, as that's what it quite obviously was, consisted of one main room with a small cubical for the toilet. The only furniture in the room was a metal bunk attached to the wall in one corner with a few sparse blankets and a thin, worn out mattress on it. The entire front of the cell was steel bars set in the floor and ceiling that blocked off the visitor's area where they had been unshackled.

Now that Wolf had moved away from the door, Alex wandered over to check the locking system Not that he had much hope of breaking them out, but wanted to see just for curiosities sake.

The lock was a large, blank steel slab situated halfway up the door. Slipping his arm through the bars, Alex felt the small keyhole on the other side of the door.

"Don't waste your time Alex." Yassen said, "I can assure you that they will take no chances with us."

Pulling his arm back, Alex turned to face the man who had been watching his every move since being thrown in here.

"Well that's not surprising, seeing how you're supposed to be dead." Alex replied sarcastically.

Yassen gave a sort of wry little grin. "Yes well, fortunately for me the only reason Mr. Cray was able to hit me at all was because he was at such close range. You would think that someone who is planning on starting a world war would at least learn how to shoot properly."

"Er, Alex, you know this guy?" Fox asked tentatively.

"Yes Ben, I know him." Alex said, scratching his nose.

"He's not the one Scorpia sent to kill you is he?" Wolf asked, eyeing Yassen suspiciously.

"No, he's not. Infact quite the opposite, he refused to kill me." Alex said thoughtfully.

Wolf harrumphed and settled down with his back to the bars so he could keep the assassin in his sight.

"Interesting friends you have Alex." Yassen commented amused. Alex couldn't understand how the man could stand there and act as if he wasn't the one responsible for the death of Alex's last remaining family member.

"I guess that's one way of putting it." Eagle said brightly. Cub said the man had refused to kill him so he couldn't be all that bad. "I'm Eagle."

Yassen raised an eyebrow at Eagle as if trying to figure him out but responded, "Yassen Gregorovich."

Eagle grinned happily and motion to the other members of K Unit in turn, "That's Snake, Fox, and mister grouchy here is Wolf." The others gave Eagle slightly odd looks but didn't protest the introductions since it meant they wouldn't have to do it themselves.

"Now where were we?" Eagle rubbed his hands. "Cub, this Cray guy you two were talking about wouldn't happen to be the Damian Cray idiot who decided hijacking Air Force One qualified as a nice publicity stunt would it?"

Alex looked at Eagle surprised, the man may be a practical joker but he was incredibly fast at catching on to things. "How did you know Damian Cray hijacked Air Force One?"

"Who do you think got the incredibly fun job of guard duty while they cleaned up _your_ mess at the airport?" Wolf snorted.

Alex shrugged and sat down by the door. His encounter with the insane celebrity was not something he wanted to talk about right now. "Yes the same one." Turning his attention back to Yassen he asked. "But you were hit in the chest. How did you survive that?"

Yassen knew what Alex was trying to do but went along with it. "I was lucky. The bullet only grazed the side of my lung and there were emergency personal already waiting outside."

Alex didn't question this. He had passed out right after Yassen 'died' and remained unconscious for the rest of the afternoon and most of the next day, conveniently missing out on everything that had happened in the aftermath of Air Force One's crash. It wasn't really a shocker that Blunt and Mrs. Jones deemed it unnecessary to inform him that the assassin was still alive. "So how did you end up here?"

Yassen shrugged. "After I recovered I was kept in different high security safe-houses. They were moving me to another location when my escort was attacked. The guards were killed and I was drugged and woke up in the truck with the rest of you."

"Then why did you send me to Scorpia?" Alex demanded.

Yassen shrugged, "I did not 'send' you Alex. I merely told you were you could find answers that MI6 would never tell you. I thought Scorpia would be able to help you. Clearly I was wrong."

"You knew they would kill me." Alex protested.

Yassen rolled his eyes before replying. "Since we both know that was not the case, would you _please_ cease your whining. Then again, I was not the one who decided to invade Julia Rothman's mansion or kill two of their top executives."

"No you just dangled information infront of him, knowing he would jump for the bait and hopefully your bosses would finish the job you failed to do." Wolf snapped. He was starting to piece together the bits of the picture that he was picking up from the conversation between the spy and assassin along with what he knew of Alex's spying escapades. He had no idea what the assassin had told Alex, but from what he knew about the kid, it had to have been important to send him running off headlong into another mess.

Alex could feel himself beginning to fluster. Yassen was right; there was no one to blame but himself for the mess he had gotten into in Venice. "He's right Wolf, it was my choice. I chose to go." He said quietly. "So why did you tell me?" he demanded of the Russian.

Yassen gave him a bored sort of look and replied. "I knew that MI6 would never tell you about your past. I had hoped the truth would be enough to get you to stop spying. It seems I was wrong in that as well."

Snake who had not spoken since the truck now piped up. "Sorry if I'm a bit behind, but could someone please tell me what is going on here?"

Alex fiddled with the top of his sock. He wasn't sure if he was ready to talk about it with the others. After all they hadn't exactly been the best of chums at the SAS camp. But he knew they weren't going to stop pestering him until he spilled, so he decided to give them the shortened version.

"My dad was a spy that got sent undercover with Scorpia. He helped train their agents for awhile which is how met Yassen. Yassen told me how to find Scorpia after he was almost killed by Damian for refusing to kill me because he thought my dad was an assassin who worked for Scorpia. I decided to follow his instructions and went to Venice to find them."

Silence reigned after his statement, the others being too surprised to say anything. Finally Fox spoke, "What was your dad's name?"

Alex thought this was an odd question but answered. "John Rider."

Fox jumped as if he had been electrified. "Holly cow, the guy that MI6 sent, like, deep undercover in Scorpia like sixteen years ago?"

"Yeah that's him." Alex was surprised that anyone outside Blunt and Mrs. Jones would even remember his father.

Fox frowned as if remembering something. "Didn't he and his wife die not to long after he got back?"

Alex nodded, "Plane crash." He would not reveal that it Ash who had betrayed his parents, because that would lead to further questions and he did not want to go there.

The K unit members looked horrified and even Yassen looked uncomfortable discussing the subject.

Fox looked pained as he remembered he was the one to bring the subject up. "Alex I'm so sorry…"

He got no further as Alex stopped him. "It's OK Ben, you didn't know." He frowned and asked "How did you know about my dad anyway?"

"The guys in intelligence talked a lot about him while they were filling me in when …"

He got no further as Wolf held up his hand. "I don't think this is the best of places to be talking about this. We don't know if the room could be bugged."

Fox got the point and shut up. What Wolf wouldn't say was that all this talk of Alex's past was making him uncomfortable.

The things the kid had been through that Fox had told him about were unbelievable. The boy had seen and done things not even an adult should have to, he had no family, and Wolf hadn't helped the situation by making Alex's life a living hell when they were together at Brecon Beacons. Yet despite the way he had treated him, Alex had been the one to save his career when he had allowed fear to almost cause him to be kicked out of the SAS.

Alex sat and mulled things over in his mind. Now that he knew about Yassen's friendship with John he understood why the man had refused to kill him. But he still wondered why Yassen would want to help him. There were so many questions he wanted to ask but his musings where interrupted by Eagle.

The guy had been pacing the floor since the start of the conversation and now he flopped down on the bunk while loudly exclaiming, "I give up, does anyone have any idea where we are?"

The others cast puzzled looks at him as if he were going nuts.

"Er, Eagle," Snake spoke, "incase you've forgotten, we were brought in a covered truck and before that we were drugged between there and the camp."

Alex perked up at the chance of turning the line of thought away from himself and asked, "How did you guys get mixed up in this?"

The others shrugged, and Snake spoke for them all. "Not sure, we were in our room at the camp when some men broke in, shot us all with tranquilizers, and the rest is history."

Alex resisted the urge to scratch his head in puzzlement at the obvious question. What could Scorpia want with the SAS unit? Ben he could understand, but Wolf, Snake, and Eagle? What was going on?

"Any idea what they might want with you?"

Noncommittal shrugs and a "nope" from Eagle were his only reply. Fox seemed to think about it for a minute before answering. "Maybe they're pissed at us for busting up their research lab. By the way, nice job Cub. I would love to find out how you pulled that one off."

Alex looked at the older spy puzzled. "Um, Fox, what are you talking about?"

Now it was Fox's turn to look perplexed. "You know?" He prodded, "The cruise ship that Scorpia was using to research biochemical weapons?"

"OK, now you've got me confused." Alex rubbed the bruise on the back of his head and tried to make sense of what Fox had just told him.

Noticing Fox's frown, Snake took over. "Ladraya? The private ocean liner used by Scorpia as a cover for researching biologically engineered diseases that you almost blew out of the water?"

Alex ran his hands through his hair and laughed. "Alright, now you've _seriously_ got me at a blank guys. MI6 hasn't sent me on a mission since Australia." Alex didn't ask how the other members of K Unit knew about him being a spy. No doubt Fox and maybe even Wolf had told them of their own adventures with their youngest member.

"It wasn't you? Snake asked with a calculating look.

"No." Alex said slowly. "Why, what happened?"

K Unit traded shrugs and Fox explained. "MI6 had been getting reports of people disappearing after boarding the ship and investigated. The agency was offering some sort of 'special deal' travel package and they became suspicious so they sent in an agent."

"Hmmm, let me guess, they were using the passengers as test subjects for their research." The members of K Unit nodded.

"The investigation I get, but why would you think it was me?" Alex asked.

"Because," Fox continued, "after the agent called in the cavalry, Blunt sent us and a couple other units to stabilize the situation as soon as the ship entered British waters. When we got there, all of the passengers and any of the crew who weren't part of the operation were locked up in their quarters. The rest of the crew was tied up in the engine room neat as you could want them."

"As we were checking them over, a couple of them kept yelling about 'stupid cowards that send a child to do a man's job' and how they were going to 'get the bloody little brat'. Know of any other kids with a grudge against Scorpia Cub?"

Alex shook his head. He could see why the others had presumed him to be the agent. How many parents would be crazy enough to volunteer their children as spies? "Well it certainly wasn't me. And even if it was, I wouldn't bother with hanging around long enough to tie up the _whole_ crew."

The others, minus Wolf, shrugged. Wolf studded Alex through slitted eyes and nodded his head.

"Figures," he muttered. "Cub's not trained enough to have pulled off something of that magnitude," he explained to in reply to the others' questioning frowns at his statement.

"Hmmm," Fox thought for a bit before nodding as well. "For once I'll have to agree with you Wolf."

"I know you are capable of a lot of things Cub," he held a placating hand when Alex looked like he wanted to protest Fox's consenting to the other man's demeaning remark. "But there is no way you could have done it. This job, it was, I don't know, professional…" Fox trailed off as he thought back to the site that had greeted them aboard the Ladraya. It had been …eerie, almost too perfect. He had never seen such a cleanly done job before. The others nodded their consent

Even Alex had to agree, though grudgingly, that there was no way in Heaven or Earth that he could have pulled off what this unknown spy had done. "You get a description of the guy?"

They all shook their heads. "Our job was to secure the ship and ensure the passengers were unharmed. Questioning's for the higher ups." Alex wrinkled his nose, on boat full of people it would be easy to blend in, but if this unknown agent had locked up every single passenger surely _someone_ must have seen or had some idea as to whoever it was.

Seeming to sense his unasked question, Snake shook his head. "We asked. No one saw who locked their doors. However one passenger was unaccounted for and when we checked the cargo later we found a crate missing. According to the ship's log, the crate contained a jet-ski that belonged to an Alex Coydane, the passenger who went missing."

Alex almost smiled, now _that_ he could understand causing K Unit to think he was the agent. He decided he'd have to agree with Fox's description. "Very professional that's for sure."

Wolf harrumphed. "Well whoever it was could have been nice enough to turn off the engine while they were at it." Trust Wolf to find something wrong with other people's field performance.

Alex looked at him with interest, what a running engine could possibly have done to annoy the man was beyond him. "What for?"

The other grimaced and Wolf growled. "Because the engine was damaged during what I guess was a pretty good fight. Pressure had built up in the radiator and the engine room looked like Hades minus the flames." Wolf was scowling now, "if we hadn't gotten there when we did the whole ship could have blown."

"How can you be sure they did not leave it that way on purpose?" Everyone jumped. In all their catching up they had completely forgotten about the Russian who was still leaning against the wall with slightly amused gleam in his eyes.

"Wha da ya mean?" Snake asked.

Yassen allowed a small smile to play on the corners of his mouth. "How can you be sure they did not leave it that way on purpose?" He repeated himself, enunciating each word as if the others were deaf or incompetent.

Everyone looked at him as if he might have a few bolts loose.

"Why the bloody Hell…I thought it was you chest that you got shot in, not your head!" Wolf almost roared before turning to glower at Alex who hadn't been able to stop himself from snickering at the man's outburst.

Yassen regarded Wolf coolly for a bit before asking, "Are you done raving yet?"

Ignoring his leader's scowl, Snake asked, "Even if your guess is correct, why would they do something like that?"

Yassen seemed pleased to see there was at least someone in the cell who wasn't either on the verge of total insanity or wanted to kill him. "As Wolf mentioned, when you arrived the engine room might as well have been Hades minus the flames." Seeing the other's continued nonplussed looks, he continued to explain. "The entire crew was tied in there, right?" they all nodded. "So say this agent was good enough to completely lock down the ship and get away without being seen. If this person were trained to handle machinery, perhaps they decided to give their captives a living hell to enjoy while waiting for MI6 to pick them up."

Alex and K Unit looked at Yassen as if trying to decide if he was a genius or just plain nuts. Finally Eagle scratched behind his ear, "Weeell, that's one way to look at it."

The other turned to look at him and Fox asked. "Is that possible?"

Eagle nodded. "On large engines it's easy to fiddle with a lot of things. If they knew what they were doing, they could have slowed the water pumps to reduce the flow. In essence keeping the engine from burning and blowing up while allowing for an increase in temperature which would cause the water to boil, creating the sauna effect we saw on the Ladraya. Now that I think about it, the loosened pipes were just a bit _too_ cleanly done to have been a coincidence."

No one bothered to argue since Eagle was the team mechanic. If he said it was possible then it must be.

The question now became, what spy was good enough to leave such a clean trail behind them? For once the cell was quite as everyone, minus Yassen, pondered this question. They were all thinking the same thing but no one wanted to say it.

No one could possibly be that good!

Could they?

Captain Val Zannders sat back in his chair and flicked his gaze over the bank of televisions that took up a sizable portion of the wall on the left side of his office. Each screen was set to monitor the buildings seven holding cells from different angles. Only one cell was currently occupied, the one that held K Unit, the blasted Rider brat, and the traitor Gregorovich.

The computer on his desk was connected to the mikes hidden in the room so he could hear their conversation. So far he had learned nothing that he didn't already know beyond having his original hunch that it could not have been Rider aboard the Ladraya confirmed.

He scowled when a knock on the door broke the quite of the room. "Come in." he ordered sternly.

His mood didn't change when the head of his deputy popped around the door timidly before the man followed to stand at attention. "Well what is it?" he snapped.

"Sir, we have just received word from Crass. He said to expect him within the next twenty minutes."

"Good." Zannders nodded and scowled when the man didn't leave. "Well what is it now?"

"Are we to precede as planned Sir?" the man asked.

"I see no reason why not." Zannders harrumphed.

"Permission to speak freely Sir." The man stiffened a bit more when he said this.

Zannders rolled his eyes and growled, "very well."

The man shuffled his right foot a bit before speaking hesitantly. "Sir, I am not questioning your judgment, but this particular prisoner…well…"

"You are worried that we do not have adequate security? Is that it?"

The man raised his head a few inches before dropping it back in line and shaking it vigorously. "No Sir, that's not what I meant…"

"Then what? You are afraid that we will not be up for the task of containing a single teenager, an SAS unit, and one assassin!" Zannders hated having his decisions questioned and was now on the verge of shooting his subordinate. Everyone had been asking the same thing for the past month and it was seriously pissing him off.

"It's not them I'm talking about Sir." The man responded stiffly.

"I know exactly what I am doing and if you see fit to argue might I remind you what happened to the crew at Cremline!"

The deputy gulped, the fate of the Cremline base was well known among the Scorpia ranks and precisely why he was so nervous. "No Sir."

"Good." Zannders roared. "Because the next idiot who comes in here asking me to change my mind will end up the same way! Am I clear!"

The deputy snapped to attention and stated, "Yes Sir."

"And you can tell the rest of the men the same thing!" The deputy saluted smartly before turning to leave. When Zannders started snarling the only wise thing to do if you didn't want to be shot was to get out of there as quickly as possible.

Zannders glared at the door for a few minutes until he cooled down. Though he would not show it, he was just as nervous as everyone else. He had had twenty-three years of experience in handling all manner of prisoners and did not flinch at the thought of killing them in the most imaginative ways possible. He hated to admit it even to himself, but just the thought of this newest acquisition made him sweat, not from fear, he hated that word in reference to himself, but he had to admit that even he was beginning to doubt his decision.

_Stop it!_ He told himself sternly. _Crass will be here soon and then there will be nothing to worry about._

Problem was, he was having a Hell of a time convincing himself of even that. Damn it all.

Zeljan Kursthad better be right about this.

**Like it, hate it? Had a hard time deciding what my OC should do to annoy Scorpia. Comments PLLLEEEEEAAAAASSSSSSSE!**


	5. Chapter V: So It Begins

***I hate purple gorillas* If you don't like the story don't read it. No one's making you sit here ya know.**

***Saku* No this will not be an Alex/OC fic (I hate those as well as Mary-Sue's). This story was originally for my best friend who had just gotten her third Dan belt when I came up with this two years ago. If ya don't like it don't read it. And I happen to be quite picky about my spelling and grammar, so if something is a certain way it's because it's supposed to be.**

***HikaruOfArrow* Nice to find someone who actually minds leaving my style alone. **

***TheOneWhoIsAddictedToHPfics* Yes I am perfectly aware that I'm quoting Men in Tights, but hey what can I say, it's an amazing classic.**

**Eagle. Oooo I love that movie.**

**Me. Surprise surprise.**

**Yassen. That is such a boring movie.**

**Alex. AHHHHHH SCARY DEAD GUY. *runs and hides behind Wolf***

**Me. You're such a baby. *Alex sits and pouts***

**Me. Ya done yet so we can get back to the story?**

**I hate purple gorillas. No OCs.**

**Me. To bad.**

**Alex. But then you'll make them look cool and the rest of us like a bunch of losers.**

**Me. Don't tempt me.**

**Alex. I demand you tell me who the agent is.**

**Me. Yawn, oh Ali, if I did that then it would spoil the story. *reaches over and pats him on the head* Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough. **

**Alex. *starts screaming and pounding the floor with his fists* I wanna know now, I wanna know now! Waaaaaa.**

**Wolf. Now do you see why I don't like him?**

**Me. Weeeeeell I guess I will have to agree…**

**Wolf. Does that mean you'll get rid of him now! Huh? Does it?**

**Me. No!**

**Wolf. Whyyyyyyyyyyy?**

**Me. Because you're also annoying.**

**Wolf. Wha… aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrg. I hate you.**

**Yassen. And I hate both of you. Get on with the story so we can shut BOTH of them up!**

**Me. Great idea. *steps on Alex's fist as he continues his tantrum on the floor* Ahhh, oops. Oh well. Zannders is worse.**

**Zannders. Thank you!**

**Me. That wasn't a compliment.**

**Wolf. YAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH creepy bad guy, MOOOOOOOOOMYYY I want my gun.**

**Me. Maybe we should just start.**

**Alex. I want out.**

**Me. If you don't shut up I will allow Zannders to hang you from the ceiling by you ankles in nothing but your boxers and use you as a dart board for the rest of the story. *Alex's eyes go wide and he stops his tantrum***

**Me. Good are we ready to start.**

**Eagle. Why? This is so much more entertaining.**

**Me. Because we need to start so my sister will shut up and beat it.**

**Eagle. What's she got to look at over here anyway? *looks at self in mirror and flexes his muscles***

**Me. *rolls eyes* Alex.**

**Alex and K Unit. What!**

**Alex. Yippee, I've got a fangirl. Sorry Eagle.**

**Eagle. Get back here ya little mutt. *chases Alex around the cell***

**Me. Cut it out, this airhead is seriously getting on my nerves.**

**Snake. Which one?**

**Me. My sister duh!**

**Snake. Oh, wha'd she do.**

**Me. She dared me to read Rescue Me which took up my writing time.**

**K Unit. WHAT! *they all start cracking up***

**Me. I swear if I have to read another line about stupid 'undying' love I'm gonna hurl.**

**Eagle. Well I gotta say that book is hot.**

**Me. For my own sanities sake I will not ask how **_**you**_** came to read it but keep this up and I'll do a fic with you and the rest of K Unit standing in as the guys.**

**Eagle. *jumps up and down with hand in air* Ooooo I call dibs on playing Macy in Atlanta Heat! **

**Me. Mmmm actually I was thinking maybe Fox could be Macy. After all, foxies live in underground dens and Fox fits basically the same description as Macy.**

**Eagle. Awww, OK then I get to be Sam in Tropical Heat.**

**Wolf. Be my guest.**

**Me. Nope, sorry, our scaly reptile buddy gets that part. You can be Zack. **

**Eagle. *pouts* But Zack gets shot.**

**Me. Only in the leg, and it's his fault for being late. And it's cause' he was sleeping with a chick.**

**Eagle. Still don't like it.**

**Wolf. Just let him be Seth in Desert Heat.**

**Me. (starting to have serious questions concerning K unit's reading habits) Ahhh, well, I was thinking you could be Seth since screwing the girl right after getting away from the bad guys and chilling in the Colorado sounds like something you would do Wolf.**

**Wolf. To true, to true.**

**Alex. How about I get to have all the girls and you can all shut up.**

**Me. No can do.**

**Eagle. Besides, you can't be rescuing them all at once.**

**Snake. More like cheating on them all at once.**

**Eagle and Me. Hear hear.**

**Me. And you'd just screw it up because you don't even know what we're talking about.**

**Alex. Do to. Ian had a copy.**

**Me. And since when did Ian permit you to read, ahhhhh, that manner of material, may I ask?**

**Alex. Jack found it once when she was cleaning his room and I swiped it when she was cooking.**

**Me. (gags) Creepy little freak. Still not putting you in.**

**Wolf. Sorry Cubby. *grins evilly while Alex pouts***

**Alex. What's the name of your OC?**

**Me. Nice try Cubby.**

**Alex. I'm Agent Alex Rider, NOT… not…CUBBY!**

**Me. Whatever, chubby. **

**Wolf. *snickers* Awww, looks at the tute little cubby. Can I skin him for my living room rug!**

**Me. NO!**

**Wolf. Pwetty pwease. *inserts puppy eyes***

**Me. NO! NO! And NO AGAIN! Now shut up so I can get things moving.**

**Alex. *sticks tongue out and makes a face at Wolf* Nieeeeeeeeea.**

**Wolf. *picks up Alex and stuffs him in trashcan* **_**Now**_** can we continue?**

**Me *rubs hands gleefully* About time. *Alex makes muffled noises in trashcan***

**Me. *lightly kicks trashcan a couple times* I'm sorry Ali, what was that?**

**Alex. Mmmmm mph mu mo mis mi mil mull moo.**

**Me. Sorry can't understand ya. **

**Alex. *falls out of can and yells* If you do this I will kill you!**

**Me. Zannders! Still got those hooks in your office ceiling?**

**Alex. I've… changed my mind.**

**Me. Good. Now, on with the show.**

**Chapter V: So It Begins**

Alex sat quietly brooding over the conversation he had had with the other K Unit members**. **

He'd initially believed himself to be the only teen ensnared into spying for MI6, but if what the others said was true then he wasn't the only one caught in the tangled web known as the world of espionage.

His thoughts were intermitted by the echo of voices on the other side of the door. He glanced around to see that the others had also heard and were now focusing in that direction.

They did not have to wait long before the door was thrown open and three men accompanied by several guards entered. Two of the men were older looking and dressed in lab coats; the third was dressed in a casual, yet obviously expensive, grey suit and was obviously the one in charge here.

The suit walked up and began pacing the bars as he inspected its occupants. His lips tightened out into a thin smile as his gaze landed on Alex.

"Well, well," he said in a voice that dripped sarcasm in every sophisticated syllable, "if it isn't the "famous' Alex Rider. Oh, I'm sorry, is it 'Agent' Alex Rider now."

Alex didn't answer and instead settled for glaring at the man with all the hatred in his soul. The man appeared to be in his mid-to-late twenties with the kind of face that you normally saw in old paintings of different lords with their smug handsome faces looking down on you like the dirt under their shoes. Unfortunately for the guy, Alex had grown a bit over the year and when he stood was only slightly under the same eyelevel as him; which meant the guy couldn't literally look down on him, so to speak.

The man gave a small sardonic chuckle before turning to the coats, "I assume we are ready to begin?"

'Yes Mr. Gray. We could start now if you wish." One of the men, a mousy looking nerd with glasses, replied in a voice that sounded just like the critter he resembled.

Gray tuned to the other who, so far, had said nothing, but stared at Alex with a guarded interest. "Dr. Jekyll?"

The doctor quickly turned his attention to Gray and said, "Oh, uh, yes of course."

"Then you may proceed." Gray said in a bored sounding tone. "Mr. Rider has enjoyed our hospitality long enough." When he said this he gave Alex such a coolly bland stare that Alex felt a shudder go down his spine. Gray had done nothing to hide the malicious gleam in his eyes and Alex didn't want to know what they had in mind for him.

But apparently Gray wasn't gonna stick around to find out either, because as soon as he had given everyone else in the cell the same look, he turned smartly on his heel and glided from the room.

When Gray left, the other doctor seemed to relax slightly and took the opportunity to observe his new subjects minutely through the bars. After a minute of scrutiny he motioned and one of the guards moved to open the door while the rest picked a hostage to point their guns at.

"I would highly suggest that you do not try any thing stupid," mousey doc said as the door swung open. "I will not hesitate to have you shot if necessary."

No one doubted this but it didn't stop Wolf from moving to stand protectively infront of Alex. "You're not taking him." He growled.

The guard who had come in stared at Wolf as if to ask whether or not he hadn't hit his head a bit harder than he would like to admit before doing a spin kick, knocking Wolf to the ground and pressing his gun to the man's temple. "And you're gonna stop me, wise guy?"

Wolf settled to glaring at the man who smirked and roughly grabbed Alex by the shoulder. The others were smart enough not to try the same thing and allowed the man to steer Alex to the door without further interference. Once they were outside, the guard handed him over to another guard before relocking the cell.

Alex waited till the guards lowered their weapons before kneeing his handler in the balls, zeesh these guys were slow on the uptake. Unfortunately not slow enough to allow him a second shot, he was easily overpowered and wrestled to the floor, again.

"Kid, when are you gonna learn." One of the guards shook his head as he came forward with a set of handcuffs. Alex recognized him from their earlier escort and gave a muffled retort. "When you're six feet under."

The guard gave Alex a grin that made Alex's skin crawl in a way only one other person had been able to. That had been Conrad, the late General Sarov's personal assistant. The guard with the cuffs resembled him in the fact that he looked like he had been either carved up or blown up and surgically put back together, minus the metal.

_And has the same pastime of terrorizing his charges, _Alex thought wryly as the guard snapped the cuffs on his wrists as tight as they would go before Alex's wrist mass prevented them shrinking any further. Once that was finished, he grabbed the chain and used it to pull Alex to his feet. Alex couldn't prevent a small gasp from escaping when the treatment aggravated the already raw skin of his wrists.

"Desdemona!" Somehow the doctor managed to make his voice sound commanding when giving orders which was kinda surprising compared to how he talked when Gray had been here. "That is enough; unless you wish to join him you will restrict your dealings with him to only what is absolutely necessary. Am I clear?"

Desdemona glowered but gave a curt nod in his superior's direction. The man seemed satisfied with this and turned to leave, pausing just inside the door. "Aeron, I want you to accompany Desdemona, the rest of you return to your posts."

"Yes sir." The men crisply acknowledged the order before filing out the door behind him, leaving only the other doctor and another, mid-eastern looking guard. Doctor Jekyll shot Alex another glance that Alex couldn't interpret before following his colleague without a word.

When everyone one else had left, Desdemona gripped Alex roughly by the hair as his partner came forward with something clutched in his fist. Alex involuntarily widened his eyes when he realized it was another blindfold and started to struggle.

Desdemona laughed and tightened his hold on him. "You know if I have to deliver you to Maltrai half dead it won't be my fault." It seemed Desdemona's definition of "absolutely necessary' varied slightly from the good doctor's.

"Keep this up and I'll strangle you next chance I get." Wolf growled. Alex hoped Desdemona hadn't felt him start in surprise. While he knew Wolf was probably just doing it to piss off the guards, he had never actually thought the man would try to defend him, like he had earlier.

Desdemona laughed again and turned Alex to face the others. "Take a good look boys. If you get your precious brat back in one piece it will only be because my boss has such a weak stomach."

The last thing Alex saw before the blindfold was pulled over his eyes were the enraged faces of the K Unit members who were yelling sufficiently to give an entire crowd control squad heart attacks. Their only response was a sneer from Desdemona as he was dragged back around and shoved in the general direction of the door.

Alex stumbled for a bit before colliding with the door frame. The resulting shockwave it sent through his head caused the dwarf that had taken up residence there to begin hammering its way out in a most unpleasant manner.

"Fucking shitheads, can't you even show him where the goddamn door is!" While Alex appreciated Eagle's concern, he didn't think it was going to help his situation one bit. If anything, it doubled his escort's eagerness to cause him as much discomfort as they could without completely disregarding their orders.

One of his escorts grabbed Alex roughly by the arm and marched him out of the room. The voices of K Unit were cut off abruptly by the slam of the door to the room they had just left and Alex suddenly felt very alone. The feeling grew as the second guard grabbed his other arm and together they marched him forward.

Given his lack of sight, Alex quickly found himself struggling to keep up as he tripped and stumbled over the guards' feet in the dark. It was pointless because pretty soon it was obvious that they really didn't care what happened to him as long as he was delivered alive.

After a few minutes and several kick induced bruises later, Alex felt them stop and turn him to the side. He heard a door opening and was pushed forward again. As he regained his balance someone ripped his blindfold off.

_If this keeps up I'll be bald before they even get started with whatever their planning._

The smile brought by this slightly humorous thought quickly faded as he saw the room he was in. It was fairly large and plain with the exception of a covered table in the corner and a pair of manacles hanging from the ceiling

The guard called Aeron stepped behind him and grasped his left hand to hold him still while unlocking his right wrist. As soon as he felt the cuff open, Alex swung full circle in hopes of getting in a punch. He didn't have much confidence of his fist connecting anymore and was not disappointed. Aeron caught it in his large paw and held on as Alex aimed another kick at him; this time Aeron rebuffed him with a return kick that caught Alex's attempt halfway.

Alex grimaced but managed not to cry out as the larger man's booted foot connected with his ankle. Aeron didn't look the least bit perturbed or comment on Alex's stubbornly continued attempts at escape. Rather he tightened his grip on the boy's wrists until Alex was forced to bite his tongue to keep a hiss of pain from escaping.

Gritting his teeth against the pressure, Alex glared daggers at Aeron who continued looking completely bored with the boy. Jerking back in hopes of breaking out of the man's hold caused Aeron's jacket to shift and Alex's eyes widened. Running almost ear to ear across his Aeron's neck was a puckered white scar. He had missed it earlier because it had been hidden under the jacket collar. Now he understood why the man didn't talk, he couldn't because his larynx must have been damaged.

Alex gulped and stopped wiggling as a vision flashed into his mind of a knife being drawn across his own throat in the same fashion. Seemingly satisfied with boy's ceased attempts to struggle, Aeron loosened but did not release his grip on Alex as he hauled him to stand beneath the shackles.

Alex decided not to try anything but when Desdemona grabbed a wrist from Aeron and began to place it in the shackles he couldn't stop himself and jerked in panic. The effect this had was his forehead ramming into Desdemona's nose with a surprisingly satisfying crunch, er, if you were Alex that is.

Desdemona didn't think it was so fun and sent Alex a punch to the gut that would probably have broken something if Aeron hadn't let go of him in seeming anticipation of the outburst. As it was, the man's anger combined with the pain of his newly busted nose added to the power of the punch that sent Alex sprawling on the floor.

Alex was too winded to even groan and instead rolled over and curled in on himself. His vision was fuzzing from having smacked his head yet again but he managed to push himself up to all fours before his vision cleared enough to be met by a pair of black boots in front of his nose. He didn't have a chance to see the owner of the feet before he was hauled back up and this time Aeron snapped his wrists into the shackles before Alex could come up with a good protest.

"I'm surprised at you Aeron. Getting soft?" A cool voice with a hint of sarcasm came in the direction Alex had just been dragged from. Alex followed the pair of shoes upward as their owner came to stand before him. The speaker was a young man who couldn't be more than twenty with an aura of cold malice that seemed to ooze from ever pore of his smug personage.

Alex didn't need telling that he was really not going to like whatever this new arrival meant but he willingly bet his freedom it didn't bode well for him.

"Oh you're dead now boy. Sawyer here's gonna make ya scream like a little girly scared of the boogieman." Desdemona leered. Alex made a face at him which seemed to piss him off that Alex didn't appear to be scared by his comment.

With a curt flick of his hand Alex's latest tormentor dismissed the two guards. Aeron left without a backward glance while Desdemona grinned maniacally at him. Now that he was alone with the boy, the man began pacing around Alex while eying him curiously.

Alex watched him as much as he could without turning. The chain that held the manacles had been adjusted to allow him barely enough room to stand on his feet stretched out and the resulting pressure to his sore ribs was making the prospect of shortening the chain by turning incredibly unappealing.

After circling Alex a few times Sawyer reached out and delicately placed a finger under Alex's chin, forcing him to meet his eyes. Despite the disgust he felt toward this man Alex was surprised he was still capable of noticing details. Up close the guy appeared younger than his original assessment and Alex would have guessed his age to be no more than nineteen.

Alex was invited back into the present when Sawyer dropped his head and went over to the covered table. Alex shook his head as he tried to figure out what the hell just happened. In the five seconds he had been forced to look into those feral like globes, he had come to fear this man more than he did all of Scorpia.

"Not what you would expect for an inquisitor, eh?" The question asked in a slightly accented drawl caused Alex to take his anger for an update.

"Yeah well, Scorpia never was one for being original. But then I guess that's to be expected from ex-agents who've been out of touch with the latest styles in espionage." Alex snarked, he had noooooo intention of letting mister pretty boy get to him before hell froze over.

Sawyer did not bother to respond but instead threw back the cover on the table. Alex gulped when he saw the large display of instruments designed for various means of torture, a number of which he had seen in movies and others for which purpose he had no idea, all of which he was sure he didn't want to know.

Picking up and palming something Alex couldn't see, Sawyer walked behind Alex who's breath caught in his throat when cold metal was suddenly pressed to the skin at the nape of his neck. _Is this it?_ Alex wondered but was rudely answered by the sound of tearing fabric as the knife was used, not on him as Alex had assumed would be the case, but on his shirt which Sawyer was cutting open the back of.

After cutting away the cloth till Alex's bare back was exposed, Sawyer returned the small knife to the table and slowly passed his hand over several of the items before finally selecting one. Turning around, Alex saw he held what looked like a long thin stick, no bigger than his little finger, its glossy pale surface resembling some kind of plastic.

Bending the surprisingly flexible stick in a casual sort of way, Sawyer began circling Alex once more. Alex was getting a bit annoyed with the action when he heard a sudden rush of air behind him followed by a sharp slapping crack and a white hot stinging sensation across his back.

Alex gasped at the sudden pain on his flesh. It felt like the time he had been grazed by a bullet on one of his missions only this time there was no adrenaline. It was now obvious the stick was some sort of whip but none the like of which Alex had ever seen.

"Stings doesn't it!" Sawyer remarked with gleam of amusement in his eyes as came back around. Alex scowled and said nothing.

"No comment?" Sawyer asked patronizingly as he almost lovingly caressed the whip. "You soon will."

Now that he knew what was coming Alex grit his teeth and prepared himself for the worst.

Sawyer flicked the whip again, landing it below and in perfect parallel to the first lash. Alex's breath caught in his throat but he refused to cry out.

"So tell me about yourself Alex." Sawyer continued to layer on the lashes in-between. "How does an asswhipe pussy get mixed in with slugs like Blunt?"

"Oh, you know, the usual." Alex hissed out between lashes when he was sure he wouldn't vocalize his discomfort, "Guy sits in an office and lets his grey matter turn to melted jelly till he reaches the point that the only reason he could tell the difference if his secretary brought him coffee instead of tea is because he's so damn paranoid. All the while coming up lovely demented ideas to make other people's lives equally miserable."

"Hmmm, so you don't enjoy the pleasure of his company as much as your uncle and father seemed to have." Sawyer yawned and Alex clamped his teeth together before he gave anything else away. "Tell me about your buddies. How long have you guys been diggin' it together?" Alex knew where this was going and this time refused to play along. "And what about Yassen. He like his boys young and 'tight'?"

Alex didn't know how long they carried on this way. Sawyer didn't break stride as he methodically continued to lash at Alex's back while bantering on as if they where sitting in a pub over a pint instead of in a SCORPIA holding facility. The basic context being stories of different methods he had used to crack others who had been unfortunate enough to cross paths with the teenager Alex had now deemed dementedly unstable, occasionally he would slip in a question phrased in such a way that Alex almost couldn't resist snapping back some snide answer to if it weren't for the fact that he was in way to much pain to trust himself to speak without it showing.

Instead he tried forcing his focus away from the pain, on to its creator.

The man-he really didn't think the guy qualified as a teen anymore- was of a well toned but not overly muscular athletic build, and not quite six foot. Loosely curling, blond hair, a shade darker than his own, hung in a casually handsome way over deep green eyes shot with gold set in a face that would have made women swoon if it weren't for way he looked like a tiger toying with its prey.

His accent was a little harder to place. It was definitely American, where from specifically was a little harder, mid-western maybe?

Finally after what seemed like hours to Alex, Sawyer returned the whip to the table and came once more to stand before his newest victim. Alex was exhausted to say the least, not only from the physical pain but also the mental beating he had just endured; he wondered how long he would be able to last with this sort of treatment.

This time he couldn't help flinching away when Sawyer grasped his chin and forced their eyes to meet once more. This time Alex saw past the glimmering feral orbs and to the cold darkness behind. He suddenly found himself unable to breathe; it was if the room was crushing him into the swirling green-gold that presented a thin guard to what lay beneath. Alex gasped when he suddenly found himself able to breathe again, by the time his breath managed to return to normal Sawyer had already left to be replaced by Aeron and Desdemona.

Neither men showed any reaction to the state Alex was in and proceeded to swiftly release Alex from the shackles. Alex gasped when his arms dropped to his sides and the blood rushed back into them, the pain was too much for his overwrought body to handle and his legs gave out. He was unable to suppress a gasp when Desdemona grabbed his arms from behind and compelled him to stand while Aeron replaced the blindfold and cuffs.

"You got off easy this time kid," Desdemona said as they steered him back to the cell. "Sawyer's just getting warmed up. If you think this was bad you'll be thinking different tomorrow."

Alex didn't have the strength to argue, he was already finding that it took all his energy and concentration to walk without crying out when the additional strain of the men supporting him by the arms caused the throbbing in his back to increase tenfold. He just hoped he would be able to make it to wherever they were going now without collapsing.

Oh gods, if he ever got out of here Allen-bloody-Blunt was going to find himself in an extremely uncomfortable position for ever dragging him into all this.

Not long after that thought exhaustion, both physical and mental, finally won its battle over his determination not to give them the satisfaction of seeing him weaken, his body finally surrendering him to the darkness of sweet obliviousness. Sometimes the pain just wasn't worth it.

Wolf paced the floor of the cell agitatedly. By his estimations Cub had been gone for almost an hour know and they were none the wiser for it. To top it all off for what the K Unit's leader was sure comprised the worst day of his career, they had the honored company of one of the world's most lethal assassins. To say the man was pissed would probably be the biggest understatement this side of the century.

"Could ya stop with the pacing Wolfy." Eagle piped up from the bunk which he had 'commandeered' for himself for the time being. "You're not going to do anything except make yourself dizzy and waste energy you might need later."

Wolf rounded on the younger man. "Well I don't exactly see you helping." He snarled in excellent duplication of his namesake. "Those nutcases took Cub; we have no idea where we are or anything to use to escape! So unless you have, by some _miracle_, managed to format a competently brilliant scheme for breaking us out, which I _highly_ doubt, why don't you help those who are trying to do so out by shoving a boot in that over grown yap of yours before I do it for you!"

The silence that followed this outburst was thick enough to blow through with a machine gun; Eagle sat looking at Wolf with a slightly stunned and hurt expression while Fox picked at the end of his shoelace and Snake frowned at his leader.

"Wolf," he finally said, "I know you're worried about the kid, we all are, but biting each other's heads off isn't going to help him anymore than it will us."

Wolf let out a breath and ran a hand through his hair, Snake was right; he was starting to lose his cool. If they were going to get out of here they would have to work together and tearing his teammate's ear off was not the way to go about it.

He wouldn't admit it for the world but what was really aggravating him most was that he was _actually_ worried about Cub and this was kind of bothering him. Sure the boy had saved his ass in training and proven to be reliable backup in a fight; but something about having a schoolboy with his highly trained team just rubbed him the wrong way, kinda like trying to fight in tight designer jeans- great in every aspect except that they gave you a wedgy.

Oh and there was also the Russian assassin standing in the corner needing to be taken into consideration. Alex and the man obviously knew each other but Wolf was unwilling to bet their freedom on the fact that, saving Alex aside, he wasn't a mole stuck in to keep an eye on them.

Yassen noticed Wolf's scrutinizing glower and asked, "Did you want something or are you just glaring at me for the sake of something to do while you unsuccessfully try to discover some means of escape?"

"Actually I'm just trying to conceive some method of putting that head of yours to good use as a battering ram for the door or a body shield when the guards come in." Wolf hissed. Even if the man, like them, was a prisoner to these dungbrains and just might be able to help them in their quest for freedom that didn't mean he had to be nice to a guy who killed people for money.

Any response Yassen might have had died on his lips as the creak of the door opening resounded. All eyes were instantly pointed in that direction in hopes that perhaps it might be their absent companion.

Instead of Alex however, almost a dozen guards entered. In their midst a limp figure hung between two nervous guards. They watched with interest as half the guards pointed weapons their way while the rest nervously kept their's trained on the obvious captive. K Unit was surprised to note that, unlike their previous entourages who only carried handguns, this group totted automatics and full body armor; boy _somebody_ was paranoid.

One of the guards hurried forward to unlock the door, but-K Unit noticed with amusement- he hands were shaking so badly he almost dropped the ring twice as he fumbled for the right key before finally finding the right one and fitting it in and flinging open the gate before retreating as far from it as he could.

The two guards half carried, half dragged their charge into the cell, where they unceremoniously deposited the still unmoving figure face down just inside the door and hurriedly removed the prisoner's restraints before backpedaling as fast as they could without appearing eager to. The key guard relocked the cell and beat an equally hasty retreat with the rest of his comrades out the main exit.

None of the conscious occupants of the cell had missed the nervous expressions on the faces of the others who had waited outside or the way they kept their guns aimed like they expected the bogey man to jump out at them, whoever this was had them shaking badly.

But was this good or bad news for them.

Not having anything else to do, Wolf cautiously approached the unmoving form for a closer inspection. Beyond a black leather jacket and matching jeans it was hard to tell much about this new person.

Getting bored of hanging around for an awakening that didn't seem pending, Wolf crouched by the prone figure and reached down to move away the thick mane of dark hair that hid the persons face. He had barely brushed a few of the outer lying strands of hair when his hand was snatched and he suddenly found himself on his back with a hand in a pulled stance tucked under his chin.

Looking into the face of his attacker through the few lose curls that still sat in their face, Wolf allowed a muffled curse to slip out and his eyes to show the surprise he felt.

Truly _what_ the _HELL_ was going on here.

* * *

**OK sorry everyone who has been waiting. I know I've been MIA for the last few months, but between moving, volunteering for flood relief work, and my damn sister daring me to read one of the most heinous books ever(Rescue Me- the one I was threatening K Unit with standing in for at the beginning of the chap[what was I thinking getting it for her]) along with a lot of lovely stuff commonly known as everyday life, I was hard pressed to even find time for celebrating my 18th B-day(yep, finally got that magic number which here in Taiwan means legal drinking and drivers licenses, YIPPEEEE).**

**But I finally got this chapter done so you **_**ALL**_** need to review. **

**On a further note, don't get you're hopes up for anything over Christmas because my younger siblings are in a dance troupe which means I have to do double duty and stand in on their part at home. If I do get another one done, well lucky you.**

**Oh and if none of you noticed, I started another Alex story called 'Be Careful What You Wish For', so if you haven't read it you can while away the time waiting for my next chapter by reading and reviewing that.**


	6. Chapter VI: New Player

_**Ok, Ok before you all decide to murder me for taking an eternity to update perhaps you would like to try having parents that ban you from the computer till you finish your SATs.(writer's hell believe me).**_

_***constant3* well lucky for you I had to read the Gulag Archipelago for my school, and I live in Taiwan where the mafia are notorious for their inventive torture methods so yes I have some very interesting yet very real life tortures lined up, heh heh. **_

_***Tom and slasher-round-the-keyboard* Haven't you ever heard of arguing with your characters, cause that's what the A/N turned into. Sorry if u got thrown but the boys were so annoying about my treatment of them and I thought the dialogue amusing(printed it to get it out of my brain) so I left it there .**_

_***jesusfreak100percent and Rebella Grayson* Ahhh my most faithful fans, love u guys tons **_

_**(see that's what happens when u leave other peoples stories to them and just enjoy the fun)**_

_***imagineaworld and Piper Julian* u guys are promoted to the above category.**_

_**Oh quick warning (spoiler alert but a necessary one) If you do not like a fantasy Alex Rider then quit now because that is what this will be… eventually.(no there will be no OC/anyone, pervs)**_

**Chapter VI: New Player.**

_Looking into the face of his attacker through the few lose curls that still hung there, Wolf allowed a muffled curse to slip out and his eyes to show the surprise he felt._

_Truly what the HELL was going on here?_

Wolf gasped as anger filled eyes glared at him; his surprise and the hand at his throat momentarily restricted his air way leaving him speechless.

Slowly the anger faded and the owner of the eyes leaned back gradually. Even so Wolf still did not move, probably more from shock now than anything else. Seeming to have decided he was not an immediate threat, the person stood and backed away a few steps.

Wolf scrambled to his feet and stared, Fox's strangled 'holy crap' barely registering.

Silence reigned for all of six seconds before Eagle started gagging like he was trying to talk but couldn't quite get the words out. The stranger rolled their eyes.

"Yeah I'm a _girl_ and now the world is going to hell because of it." Her statement's snappish quality, suggesting she had seen this situation before and was getting rather annoyed, locked Eagle's trap shut faster than any threats to kill them had.

"Jeez." She muttered, dusting the front of her pants. "What!" She grouched, "never met a girl who new how to give bad guys an aneurysm?" a seething scowl was aimed at Fox and Snake who's jaws were sweeping the floor of the cell for their senses.

The stare-down was broken by a soft chuckle from the corner behind the competitors. "I see you haven't lost your touch Drake."

'Drake' glared at the Russian who was in the corner grinning as he watched the proceedings unfold between K unit and the cell's newest addition.

"Yeah nice to see you to Yassy." Yassen scowled at her but before he could make a reply the door was once again opened and her previous entourage scooted back in where they retrained their weapons for the most part on Drake.

"Hey if I didn't know better I'd think y'all were having dreamy time about using me for target practice." Drake quipped cheerfully as the men shuffled uneasily. She grinned but her chipper mood quickly faded as two of their number hauled forward what for the others was a painfully familiar form.

"Stay back," was barked from behind one of the masked helmets as the door was unlocked and the two men hurriedly dragged their load in and dropped it on the cell floor.

Drake began swinging her left heel and tapping he fingers on her leg as they pulled off the blindfold and cuffs. "I see all that expensive therapy hasn't done much for your obsession with teen torture angst Demony-a. Though I have to say I'll have to make mental note to get a bigger grenade and a couple more gallons of gas the next time we play Die Hard catch me if you can."

Desdemona's glare was enough to make the temperature in Hades sit up and wonder if it wasn't being just a tad nice on its occupants. He slowly stood and walked forward till he towered over the still grinning teenager.

"Whoa," Drake chuckled tilting her head back and to one side. "Now I have to ask, how many times do you have to blow your boss to be high enough on his bitch list to get such nice plastic surgery?"

Even Snake winced. Drake was tall, around the same height as Fox who was a hair's breath or so over 5'10", and well built. Desdemona was a head and neck taller than that and easily twice her size-OK maybe two-and-a-half times to be honest. All in all, he was making the sergeant back at the Beacons look unbelievably like a runt-of-the-litter kitten.

The kid, yes for despite all her audacity that is precisely what she was, was either completely insane or she one hell of a bravado complex. That either one was going to get her killed in the next few seconds was more than guaranty.

An earsplitting bellow smashed the murky tension as Desdemona closed the last few steps between him and his antagonist to sprawl on the floor behind her. The cause was plain to see in the form of Drake's foot sticking out inline with the path the Hulk had been transcribing for her early squashing.

Everyone in K unit blinked. They hadn't seen Drake move and Desdemona had been standing right in front of her, way to close to have possibly overshot her in his charge.

Another cyclopean roar shook them of their wonder as the now enraged guard surged to his feet like some deformed monster from hell and once more went after his antagonist, this time swinging a brick sized fist at her head.

Drake coolly watched as he came barreling down on her until the last possible second, she sidestepped into a crouch and snapped up a fist at her attacker's chest.

The larger man didn't have prayer of stopping in time. Everyone winced as his momentum plowed him forward where it combined with the responding force of Drake's punch to create the resounding crack of something breaking.

For several seconds the only sound to be heard was the pounding of the members of K unit's hearts in their ears. Despite the unseemly odds against her, Drake had managed to bring the raging beast before her to a complete standstill with only perhaps half-a-foot of ground lost.

But at least he had stopped so that was good, right?

Desdemona blinked down at the girl still determinedly digging in her heels to keep from falling back under his weight; then without a sound toppled over so quickly Drake was forced to jump back or be dragged down with him.

He hit the floor and lay there for a second then convulsed as red spewed from his lips. Everyone in the cell staggered back in horror to avoid the crimson drops falling in a gory rain.

The silence imposed by the gruesome spectacle was rented by another guttural sound, this time from Aeron who tried to fling himself at Drake but had forgotten about his original charge in the commotion. He barely managed to catch himself from taking a nosedive but at Alex's expense.

Alex barely managed to keep from screaming as something mashed his side, dragging him from the soft embrace of darkness to agonizing reality. The pain had booted out any clouds from his mind and he saw his impromptu revile was thanks to Aeron. The man seemed to have caught his foot under Alex's side and ended up using his ribs as a landing pad which would explain why it was so hard to breathe.

"Ya know Hair-On I think people may be right about me needing a bigger knife since both you seem to have no problem employing me for football tackle practice." Alex clenched his teeth over the groan that threatened as the man rolled off him. He turned his head to see who had spoken and was surprised to see a girl grinning with her arms crossed in a casual manner as if speaking to a rather dim acquaintance.

"That is enough. You two, get him out of there." Alex frowned as two heavily armed men entered the cell at the order. He didn't recall there being this many guards last time, what was with all the Kevlar and who where they taking, point of fact where was he?

He turned his head further and with relief saw the rest of his unit, if he was still allowed to call them that, and Yassen further back in the cell. His relief twisted when he saw, laying at the girl's feet, non other than his previous tormentor Desdemona.

The disfigured hulk seemed to be choking trickles of red spit and his eyes bulged like someone being held in a strangle hold. He felt a bit guilty at the other man's pain, just a bit, but that was quick to go when the threats and unsavory attentions of earlier danced back through his aching skull.

The two soldiers reached down to unceremoniously pull him up, supporting him between them they made for the door like a grenade was about to go off.

Aeron spared a scowl for him then followed the others. Once he was out, the door was locked and the soldiers left quicker than if they had been told the place was infested with the plague.

"Well, that went well." All heads turned to scowl at the totally unconcerned teenager who still looked like a cat who just pigged out on an ostrich. Wolf opened his mouth but before he could speak he was cut off by a pained choking noise from the floor.

* * *

**Yay I did it, another chapter done. Very sorry about the wait but as you can see(ducks punch from a very sulky Alex) I've been rather busy of late(glares at evil SAT books). **

**But at least i got a nice start on the next chapter so hopefully it won't take as long.**

**Oh and slasher-round-the-keyboard, I was wondering if people were going to notice that. Well my brother had been begging me like forever to do a LXG fic but I just don't have time so I cheated and mixed the cast in(note the beginning of the last chapter, it's a fantasy fic anyway). It seems to have pacified him so I plan on keeping it that way since it also cuts down on character profile planning. **

**Yes I do realize Scorpia710's Faint Hearted has a bad guy named Sawyer if that's what your thinking of, but I had no idea until someone mentioned that my story sounded similar so I took a quick peep. I absolutely abhor copycat writing.**

**Now then there is a nice little button down there just waiting for you to click to review this chapter. Press it, press it, PRESS IT!**


	7. Chapter VII: Well Hello Ta You Too!

_**Here I will express my near irresistible urge to vaporize the minion who one bright day was inspired with the notion it would be 'oh such a wonderful idea' to torture all our society's youth to determine what remains of their poor gray matter - **_**after**_** 12 years of mandatory combusting - via a rather brilliant process - concocted during what I am sure must have been some form of satanic ritual necessitating the sacrifice of a young ones brain - which we all have come to know and love, the all mighty **_*****_**ominous music required here**_*** SAT! **

_**Constant3: Keep reading.**_

_**Writertron, BrothersInArms, and Iceqbz: Thank u, love u veeeeeeeeeeeeeery muchy.**_

And now staring _Ian Somerhalder as Wolf (yes Daemon from Vampire Diaries, erm, if adding a British accent is too much on your imagination then you are excused as I still can't really do it but that 'charming' personality will be needed later soooo….) _ _Tom Hardy (in his Inception persona minus the drinking and gambling habits of course) as Snake _ _Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Fox (YES the guy from Tudors, seriously already)_ _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND David Morse (uh huh the psychopathic creep detective from 'House' season 3, can anyone say _WEIRDO_) as Zannders._ _Sorry couldn't decide who should do Eagle, but I'm open to suggestions provided the guy is black (yeah my cast is WAY too white), comedian or at least has a really good cheesy grin, and (hopefully) British. I was considering Aldis Hodge from Leverage but he doesn't meet the last requirement and is kinda older than I always imagined Eagle to be soooo a little help here._ _The rest of the original movie cast stays the same._

**Chapter VII: Well Hello Ta You Too.**

_"Well, that went well." All heads turned to scowl at the totally unconcerned teenager who still looked like a cat who just pigged out on an ostrich. Wolf opened his mouth but before he could speak he was cut off by a painful choking noise from the floor._

Alex tried to sit up but immediately regretted the decision as the pain from Aeron landing on him combined with his earlier beating to send waves of fire over his back and sides. Someone hurriedly crouched by his side and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Easy there Cub." Snake allowed the worry he felt reflect through his eyes. He couldn't believe they had spent the last god knew how long trying not to give themselves nervous breakdowns over what had happened to the boy only to completely forget him in the commotion that came with his return.

"Oh _please_ tell me their joking."

Everyone scowled at Drake who had her eyes scrunched closed and was rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"Don't tell me." She held up a hand. "Scorpia still insists on acting like a spoiled bully that just got its nose rubbed in the metaphorical sandbox."

"Who. The. Hell. Do. You. Think. You. Are?" Wolf, when angered, could do a pretty impressive 'protective Alpha' stance that would generally invoke a similar reaction to that of the real thing. However right now it would appear that big, fire-breathing lizards really do trump toothy canines.

"I," Drake started, accentuating each word with over exaggerated eye and brow motions.** "**The hell, am the one who's wondering what possessed you, oh great pack leader, to leave your still wet-behind-the-ears runt-of-the-litter sitting outside a school that you're plannin' on blowing to hell when you have had plenty of first hand experience with what he is capable of getting up to when that oh so awesome void, where God originally intended one's common sense to reside, decides to come out and play."

Once more all were reduced to silent gawping as they tried to sort out the meaning of the high speed lecture that had taken seven seconds or less.

"You were at Point Blanc?" Alex's wheezed painfully, being friends with a guy who had to qualify for the position of 'world's fastest speaking teen' enabled him to get the spiel first time.

"You don't seriously think after your little stunt at the museum that Blunt was gonna leave you floating to your own whims. And while I'll admit that girl was a titch, your conduct in handling Fiona Friend was the last straw Mr. Zombie-o needed to convince himself to have you supervised."

"And you were the answer?" Alex's carefully schooled expression of guarded amusement fried with the flames that accompanied the hand Snake slid under his shoulder.

Snake jumped back as if he had been zapped. "Cub! What's wrong?" he once again allowed his concern to show in his eyes and voice as Alex curled on his side. The simple touch was all it had taken to fully reawaken the lake of fire induced by his earlier ordeal.

"Holy…" Eagle started but stopped when words failed him. The back of his younger teammate looked like it had been attacked by some rabid creature with claws dulled to not break skin and enough enthusiasm to put Freddy Krueger to shame.

"What the hell did they do? Fox seethed as he knelt by Alex opposite Snake and, as gently as possible, aided the medic in maneuvering the boy into a sitting position. Alex grit his teeth as the movement aggravated the ribs that had taken the majority of the impact from Aeron squishing him.

"Scorpion's Tail." a venomously low voice hissed. The SAS looked at each other to see who had spoken. Shock dropped back in for a visit when realization pinged them.

"You know what this is?" Snake questioned Drake. The previously hyperactively cheeky girl now looked like winter had taken up residency in human form. Her eyes were riveted on Alex like a targeting laser.

"Yes," Her responding tone made the room comfortably warm by comparison. "It's an old instrument of punishment developed by the ancient Egyptians that Scorpia found to be quite useful in their slave trade thanks to its range of harshity."

"Erm, range of harshity?" Eagle frowned, "that's already pretty harsh." He didn't miss the thin gasps

Alex let slip as Snake and Fox gingerly helped him stand and walk the few paces to the bunk.

"Huh," Drake snorted derisively. "You call _that _'harsh'? You don't know the meaning of the word

featherbrain!"

"Alright then, what's your definition of the word?" Wolf growled.

Drake didn't bother her attention with the man's attitude and instead focused on the question.

"Unlike most conventional whips which are made with one or two basic levels of injury and are generally

unwieldy; Scorpion's Tail has several degrees of usefulness in punishment and is made to be as easy to

handle as possible, making it the perfect torture instrument where serious injury is not the intent."

"So you're saying these," Snake waved a hand at the welts on Alex's back that he had been carefully

checking over, "are not serious?"

Drake shrugged. "Unless they soaked the bloody thing in poison first, no."

"Even had it been loaded with enough poison to drop an elephant," she continued hastily upon seeing

the medic's panicked look as this thought took root, "it would have to have broken skin to get in. Judging

by the degree of swelling and placement of the stripes, the one dishing it out is an expert hand at this."

"More like psychotic bastard." Alex snorted and gingerly pushed himself up on one elbow so he could

get a better look at her.

Drake's grimace belied the sardonic chuckle she let out, "With that statement I'll have to agree. You

didn't happen to pick up a name did ya?" At the answer she had to restrained the urge to smack herself

repeatedly whilst employing profanities to give the Devil a heart attack.

"Why oh why ain't I surprised." She exclaimed in exasperation. "Not only do I get to room with the brat they _had _to dig that pile of…" here she broke off into another language or several, since no one could figure out enough to follow, leaving everyone else to try and comprehend this teenager's rather haywired temperamental jumps.

"This is just barely tickle time what you got." Drake dropped into a light seething mood. "In the hands of an expert like Sawyer the Scorpion's Tail can carve flesh from a man's back or leave the barest kiss mark on soft skin that burns like the venom of the scorpion, hence the name."

"How do you know so much about this?" Snake's momentary lapse in concentration while asking the question bought another whimper from his patient when he unintentionally pushed too hard on the ribs he had moved to check now that the other more obvious injures no longer demanded his attention.

Drake shrugged. "The whips are made from specially treated hippo hide. Well I'm sure you can imagine the outcry _that_ must cause when all these lovely countries couldn't figure out where their precious tubs of flubber were playing extinct to, so naturally they called my guys. I of course just_ had_ to get picked for the team going to the Congo where the situation was worst."

"And this was when exactly?" He couldn't be sure but Fox guessed her age to be about twenty, which was generous since he couldn't quite believe there would be more freaks fanatical enough to start recruit underage.

"Two years ago." Drake absent mindedly scratched her chin and ignored the pointed questioning looks she was getting from the others.

"Yeah right!" Eagle

Yassen chuckled lightly. "Gentlemen." _Is he actually smiling?_ Alex thought, _Cuz that's just a bit creepy. _ "Allow me the pleasure of introducing Alex Coydane."

"Drop-jaw, buggy-eyes, silence supremo, what _have_ you been _telling_ these poor boys Yassy?" Drake laughed at the afore described conditions that had made a revisit as the new cell fad.

"Yo…you're Alex Coydane?" Snake finally managed.

"Eeeeeeeeeerm, yeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaah, thaaaaaaat'ssssssss..." Drake's reply from K-Unit was predictable, a Krakatoa load of overlapping questions and exclamations generously sprinkled with enough descriptive language to give Black Beard a run for his reputation.

"Llalallalalalala-lalalalalalal-lalalaalalalalllalalla-alalaal-blahblahblah-falalalaalallal-blahbadieblabidi-blaaaaaaaaaah!" The ending of Drake's chant went into high enough octaves to finally get everyone to put a sock in it for an adequate length of time to notice the girl had stuffed her index fingers in and the rest of her hands over her ears.

"Now if you have finished playing 'who can bust everyone else's eardrums first' _maybe_ you could be civil enough to ask them _nicely_." It must have been the slightly evil Mickey impression that did the trick, because everyone zipped it and backed down.

"O-k for starters, Alex Coydane is an alias not my real name, so for now just call me Drake, that way we," She motioned between Alex and herself, "don't get mixed up. Second, yes I am a girl and I will leave it to you to you chibber monkeys to guess my age 'cause I ain't telling. Third, how did I get my job? It's sort of a family thing. Fourth and final, no we," here she turned to shoot an annoyed glare at the Russian beside her, "are not friends, comrades, or even decent acquaintances of the job so don't get any funny ideas about going all chummy on me bozo."

Yassen smiled, gave a shallow bow and moved back to the corner that had unofficially been dubbed 'his'. Everyone else, including Wolf, started on their second session of practice for 'K Unit's best shark imitations'.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh, I give up." Drake threw her arms up in exasperation and plopped down in the corner by the bars opposite the rest of her fellow inmates.

"Twenty-one!"

"Nyeh?" Drake pulled out the fingers she had been using to comb her hair and stared questioningly at Eagle who had phased the question.

"Your age, is it twenty-one?" He prodded with a cheerfulness to make Goofy proud.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuh." Drake and all of K unit, minus their Loki double, smacked their aching skulls in hopes of retaining some scrap of sanity.

"No." Drake drew out in a sigh.

"Twenty-three, not twenty-five!" Drake glared like she would very much like to kill a certain someone and gave a tired growl. "Wrong direction."

"Nineteen?" Eye roll. "Twenty?" Middle finger. "Eighteen?"

"Huh, don't I wish."

"Surely not seventeen?"

"La, the _mentality_ of people theses days." Drake waved her hands in despair. "Ok, Ok I'm sixteen. NOW will you pleeeeaaaase SHUT UP!"

"**SIXTEEN!" **

"What are you now? The SAS choir? SAS standing for 'Sanity Absent Sector' by the way." Drake currently was feeling very much like jumping up and pounding her feet into the ground as hard as she could several times while yelling her frustration. Fortunately for her self image and everyone else's eardrums she was much better at self control than the hyperactive Eagle or the short-fuse Wolf.

"What did you just call us!" Everyone sighed. At this rate Wolf wouldn't need worry about his fate at the hands of their captors since his blood pressure would probably finish the job before they even got to him. Drake was surprised he didn't need emergency surgery after every outburst to repair busted eye veins.

Drake sighed in a descending note and flopped back, muttering about 'douchebags in need of anger management counseling', completely ignoring the tick mark starting up on Wolf's head and the slightly maniacal glint in his eyes that had everyone else slowly putting as much floor space between them and him as possible.

Luckily for everyone's psychological makeup their latest set of party poopers decided it was time to break up the love fest. Their newest prey?

"Bye-bye Furry-pants." Drake happily waved as they lead Wolf out the door in shackles. "I'll make sure Foxy doesn't pick the wrong den while you're gone."

By now the rest of the team had made up their minds that the girl's brain had indeed decided to either take a permanent hiatus or had it in for her. They were beginning to wonder if the way the guards shot her weird glances and scooted off as fast as possible might have had more to do with her personality than her fighting abilities.

"Not worried" Yassen purred from his corner. "I hear last time in Guam you managed to provoke the guards into attacking you so you could get the keys the first night. The fact that you were scheduled to meet a firing squad in two hours wouldn't have had anything to do with that?"

Drake grinned and wiggled her eyebrows.

"If your plan is a rerun of the riot you invoked to use as cover while you raided the lab at the prison in Kanggye in hopes of beating the guards when they come rushing to stop it you will be deeply disappointed."

Drake shot up and asked, "Hey how'd you know that was me?"

Yassen threw her a trademark smirk. "I was the one who interviewed the guards afterwards."

"Awwwwwwwwwww, no fair." Drake wrinkled her nose. "The riot wouldn't work, besides which Sawyer would probably video and send it to all our superiors and we don't need that blotching _your _good name eh Greggy."

Yassen cocked an eyebrow in wordless questioning.

Drake waved a hand abstractly. "Relax; this is Sawyer we're talking about. The 'artist' of the world of torture, humph." Drake had taken on an airy pristine manner on the second sentence as she held a handover chest in exaggerated 'surprise' at his wonder, turning her nose up in an offended manner at the last part.

"Meaning?" Snake demanded.

"Meaning," Drake said through her teeth that were clenched in grin sized XXXL. "He is oh-so banal. They're not aiming to mincemeat us for 'how to kill annoying spy brats one-O-one' or they wouldn't have been so nice to Ali over there. And if it's info they were after why jump the whole team from camp when Alpha-snout or Fluffy over there." She brandish a hand at Fox, "were off duty and happily drinking their guts out at a bar somewhere."

"How can you be so sure?" Alex questioned skeptically.

"Because I have something _you_ don't." Drake stated smugly.

And that would be…?" Alex pressed.

Drake just smirked, "experience."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Captain Zannders, Sir." The guard pulled up short of his commanding officer's desk after bursting in after barely knocking.

"What?" Zannders grouched, although he could probably guess at the reasoning behind this sudden intrusion.

"The cameras in cell six have gone dead Sir. The mikes as well." The man blurted.

Zannders didn't even blink, were his men so stupid they didn't realize he would know that already, the staticy tv screens buzzed monotonously where he had been observing them since this situation had arisen.

"They went as soon as we put the kid in, am I correct?"

"Yes sir." Foreseeing the coming tirade, the guard snapped his posture up smartly, no need to give the man more fuel to burn his ears with.

To his surprise, Zannders simply asked whether they had removed the head of K Unit yet and upon receiving affirmation, swirled his chair back around to face the wall. "If there is nothing else than you are excused."

"Sir?" The guard was puzzled, the guys up in the security room sure seemed panicky, was there something their superior had not deemed fit to tell them?

"There is no kneed to worry." Zannders stated, allowing his irritation to drip into his tonnage. "However, I want all other fronts monitored closely 24/7 and updates regularly on even the slightest disturbance. Do I make myself clear!"

"Yes Sir." The guard smartly saluted and scurried back the way he came.

"So dragon," Zannders almost purred. "Let the games begin."

* * *

**Ok, Ok, don't shoot *hides behind couch* I know it's been several months*ahem hem ahhhh* since my last update*coughtenmonthscough* but the kidnapping of my plot bunny by the SAT enforcer demanded a rather lengthy rescue operation and several months of recuperation for the poor fluff ball*holds up picture of rather tattered ball of fur* during which he made the acquaintance of Barajou No Kiss' pet guardian dragon Ninufa and just when I finally managed to negotiate for my muse time(I swear, never EVER give a dragon cream puffs because they will never leave after that) Naruto and pirate captain Monkey D. Luffy(from Naruto and One Piece respectively) decided they wanted a piece of my brain waves so they hauled Thumper off for a joint ninja/pirate adventure session and I am barely keeping up with my laptop.**

**PS. If any of you should be so unlucky as to know the originator of SATs and school credits, please let me know*attempts to hide M16 and katana behind her back* ummm yes well…**

**Ok whatever, just review already.**


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